Los modelos del carácter y la palabra dada

The best approach to understanding Naess’s use of Spinoza is through Spinoza’s concept of

conatus (from the Latin conari, meaning to endeavour), which is the term used in his major

considered to constitute the essence of all things, namely, the endeavour to persist in their own being” (Fox, 1988, p. 175). It has more relevance to this thesis when it is referred to as the “power or essence” (de Jonge, 2004, p. 69) of any being. Mathews (1991). provided an equally eloquent description: “the conatus consisted in the unfolding or motion of a thing toward an independently or externally defined goal (where the external author of such a form or goal was of course presumed to be God)” (p. 109). Naess adopted Spinoza’s idea that the universe is a unity and that there is a comprehensive structure of the self, but accords more so with the conatus of all forms of life: “perseverare in suo esse, to perservere in ones own (way of) being, not merely being alive” (Rush, 2000, p. 30), which is what Naess calls his Self-

Realization. The concept of self has long been a source of interest to social psychologists (De

Lamater, Myers, & Collett, 2015) and is relevant to the sorts of actions, beliefs and locations of the student as a social being, and aspects of the identity of self are relevant to the third research question.

Arne Naess did not leave any procedure or manual for Self-Realization or for the attainment of a gestalt state. His inspiration came from Buddhism and Spinoza. Naess was also a follower of Gandhi, all of which complemented his love of mountains. Naess saw the mountains (nature) as his father (his real father died when Naess was young). The personal details of his life have been published (see Drengson, 2005; Rothenberg, 1993; 2010; Slaven, 2009) and need not be repeated here. What is important is that Naess felt that, only when he stood next to a mountain did he feel fully human. The mountain was Naess’s path to monism; being at one with nature. Naess (2005h) summarised this line of thinking through his

description of the relationship he had with the mountain, when he went climbing at age fifteen:

The effect of this week [encountering an old man in the mountains] established my conviction of an inner relation between mountains and mountain people: a certain greatness, a cleanness,

a concentration on what is essential, a self-sufficiency; and consequently a disregard of luxury, of complicated means of all kinds. From the outside, the mountain way of life seemed Spartan, rough, and rigid, but the playing of the violin and the obvious fondness for all things above the timberline, living or “dead,” bore witness to a rich, sensual attachment to life, a deep pleasure in what can be experienced with wide-open eyes and mind. (p. 367)

de Jonge (2004) launched a sweeping critique of deep ecology, questioning why a philosophy of ecology needed to be invoked rather than an environmental ethic alone. He believed that the philosophical views and lifestyle of deep ecology were in large part a moral decision, and that this “pose[d] a problem for the deep ecologist” (de Jonge, 2004, p. 9). The Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy lists Deep Ecology under Environmental Ethics and provides a

synopsis of approaches to environmental crises that accords with the purpose of Mathews’ work “to find a metaphysical and ethical expression for the intuition of ‘oneness’ and

interconnectedness, and Spinoza and Einstein providing a starting point” (Mathews, 2010, p. 2). Other authors used the idea of “planetary” or “whole Earth thinking”:

A crucial task of whole Earth thinking is to account for interdependence and self-organizing dynamics of Earth’s systems including its living systems (biosphere) and its systems of water (hydrosphere), rock (lithosphere), air (atmosphere), and even human consciousness

(noosphere). (Mickey, 2016, p. 5)

Naess (2005c) explained in detail how his philosophy developed and, while heavily

influenced by his experiences from psychoanalysis, it is consistent with a set of values and rights not unlike an ethical view of what is right and wrong, or what actions are required or activities (like whaling) that should cease. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), which is widely regarded as an ecological awakening to the planetary poisoning by humans, has values and proposed actions that accord with the Deep Ecology Platform (Naess & Sessions, 1995). Another document of note is the Limits to Growth report of the Club of Rome

(Meadows et al., 1972), which models the consequences for humanity of unrestrained use of natural resources, a theme contained within the deep ecology philosophy. Boyden, Dovers & Shirlow’s (1990) analysis of the threats to the biosphere came to the conclusion that cultural and social shifts were needed to give people a sense of belonging, involvement and purpose, adding that “changes in educational programmes may come to be seen as an essential part of the transition to an ecologically and humanely desirable society” (pp. 258-259). Returning to de Jonge’s criticism of Naess’s (supposed) mis-interpretation of Spinoza in 2.3.4.2 above, the link between metaphysics and ethics made by Spinoza is central to Naess’s Self-Realization (Rush, 2000), and Naess himself wrote that there necessarily had to be a wide gap because “man’s [sic] predicament today differs from that in the seventeenth century, there are some similarities that suggest a basic continuity through the centuries” (Naess, 2005j, p. 386).

The radical group, Earth First, sits at an extreme end of the spectrum, employing violence and risk to life via tree spiking (Lange, 1990). de Jonge claimed that this form of extreme activism called CD or civil disobedience is part of the Deep Ecology Platform (2004) and in doing so undermines Naess’s broad position. Naess adopted the opposite extreme of activism because he came very early in his life under “the strong influence of a Gandhian ethics of nonviolence” (Naess, 2005g, p. 314). This, however, needs to be put into the context of the Alta confrontation of 14 January 1981 during which Naess chained himself to a thousand other protestors to try and prevent the construction of the Lapp dam in far north Norway (Fox, 1988). It is pointed out by Rush (2000) that Naess’s interpretation of Spinoza was not to withdraw into passivity because we are small and ineffectual, but to realise that the universe is large and that Spinoza calls for activeness.

Providing this background to Naess’s political activities provides context for the analyses of data later in the thesis, especially where responses might be aligned with red, blue or green politics. Naess’s actions are also relevant to the discussion on student agency.